Coating composition.



To all whom it may concern:

FIcE.

CLINTON P. TOWNSEND, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COL UMBIA, ASSIGNOR, TOGENEltAL BAKELITE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEWYORK.

COATING COMPOSITION.

$pecifl'cation of Letters Patent.

Patented July so, 1918.

Rio Drawing; originalapplication filed November 30, 1909. Serial No.530,644. Divided and this application Be it known that I, CLINJION- PAULTowxsEND', a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, inthe District of Colum bia, have .inventedcertain new and usefulImprovements in Coating Compositions, of

I which the followingis a specification.

, adherence of the This invention relates to coating surfaces,

the object of the invention being the-provision of a durable protectivecoating, appl1- cable to all surfaces and particularly to those of ironand steel.

' Ithas been proposed heretofore to pro tect iron surfaces byprecipitating upon them a film of copper or other metal, and to applyvarnishes, lacquers, paints and the like to the metallic film soproduced. r I. have found that under proper conditions it is practicableto produce in a single operation,

upon conductive surfaces as those of iron, steel or other metals, agalvanic deposit of a coating metal and a protective coating .for suchdeposit. This procedure is highly advantageous, not onlyby reason of thesimplicity of the process, but because on the one hand the conditions ofoperation result in the production of an unusuallyadherent,

perfect, non-oxidized and permanent of the coating metal, and on theother'hand the presence of this metal results in a better protective.varnishv or coating.

The invention will be d s rib d y of an illustrativeexample; but it is,tobe understood that it is not limitedto thevmaterials or proportionstherein mentioned.

A mixture of a-phenolic body, such as phe- 1101 or its homologues,and'formaldehyde, or a soluble reaction product thereof, iscompoundedwith a suitable solvent possessing the capability of yieldingelectrolytically conductiye solutions ofmetallic "salts; I offsuohsolvent-s methyl and eth yl alcohol, phenol and acetone are examples, Tothesolution' sorprcparedu or to either component thereof, is added ametallic salt soluble in the particular solvent employed. Thus, forexample, hydrated' or anhydrous cupric chlorid is dissolvedin commercialmethyl or ethyl alcohol, and the green solution so prepared is utilizedas a,

solvent for the condensation product of he .nols and formaldehyde,yielding there ith a dark red or brown varnish which: dries filedDecember 18, 1914. Serial No. 877,874.

stantaneous and very striking transformation accompanied by a change ofcolor will be observed, the coating darkening and acquiring a highdegree of opacity and luster. If the iron or steel body coated asabovebe thereafter partly immersed in alcohol or other solvent for thevarnish constituent of the coating, there will be exposed upon thennetallic surface a very perfect and integral film of copper, to theunoXidized'met-alli'c surface of which film the undissolved portions ofthe protective coating will be found strongly adherent. The presence ofthis me tallic coat or plating is highly advantageous, in that it notonly aflords an added protec tion for the metal against oxidizing orcorrosive influences, but it also increases'the ad- .herence of theprotective coating and renders'it more resistant to crackingor scaling;'Furthermore theprecipitation of copper or other electronegative metalis accompanied in this particular instance by acorresponding'formationof iron chlorid, which serves asla condensing agent'to accelerate thehare I dening'o'fthe coating.

' The coating composition may be slightly acidulated with advantage forcertain applications, av small proportion of acid,v as for examplehydrochloric acid, appearing to result in a quicker'deposition of thecoating 'metal, particularly upon slightly oxidized or tarnished metalsurfaces; in the use of [such acid solutions the rapid darkeningv-abovereferred to as characteristic of the neutral or basic varnishesis not observed, and the coated surface may present substantially thecolordue tothe precipitated metal, a-brighticopper-colored coating forinstance being obtained with this metal, and a gray metallic coatingwith salts of tin and lead; Inplace ofcopper I may employ salts of allother metals which are soluble in the particular solvent employed and"are, in this solution and in presence of thecoatingmate- DEBUG [\UUHIrial, electronegative to iron or other metal to be coated or capable ofprecipitation thereon. Metallic salts should be selected whose acidradicals form with the metal to be coated, salts of this metal which aresoluble in the solvent employed. For example, iron or steel isadvantageously coated with tin and lead from their chlorid and acetatesolutions respectively. As a single further illustrative example, I maymention that if mercuric chlorid be dissolved in an alcoholic solutionof a condensation product of phenol and formaldehyde, and the resultingvarnish be applied to copper, it will be found that the copper has beenamalgamated beneath the coating of varnish and that the latteris veryadherent and resistant to mechanical or atmospheric influences, \Vithoutmultipli cation of examples, it is to be understood that the method isapplicable broadly to the production upon metallic surfaces of acomposite coating comprising a metallic film or precipitate and aprotective or msulatmg covering in intimate association therewith. I 25The method is applicable also to the production of composite coatingswhereof the coating metal is electroposit-ive to the metal tobe coated.In this case however it is necessary to employ either an electriccurrent from an external source, or the so-called contact method ofprecipitation, wherein the metal to be coated is electrically connectedwith a metal which is electropositive as regards that to beprecipitated. In this manner satisfactory deposits of nickel may beformed on iron or copper by precipitation in presence of zinc.

As has been heretofore pointed out by Baekeland (Journal of Industrialand E91 gilwering Chemistry, Vol. I, No. 3, March, 1909), phenols andformaldehyde are capable of reacting, in accordance with the specificproportions employed or in presence of particular condensing agents, toyield a great variety of condensation products, certain of which, andespecially those produced in presence of basic condensing agents, aresoluble in alcohol, acetone, phenol and similar solvents, but arecapable under applicatiton of heat of undergoing polymerization,becoming hard, infusible and resistant to all known solvents. I preferto utilize the valuable properties of these heretofore-describedcondensation products, inasmuch as it is only necessary to heat thecoating in order to effect its transformation into an infusible andinsoluble body, in which the metal is indissolubly combined; Theinvent-ion is not however restricted to the employment of suchcondensation products; instead I may use alcohol-soluble condensationproducts of phenols and formaldehyde which are not capable of hardeningunder the influence of heat (see Baekeland, Journal of Industrial andEngineering Chemistry, Vol. I, No. 8,

be applied to the wooden or metal bottoms of ships, to piling and othersubmerged structures, and in general in all cases where an anti-foulingcomposition is applicable. For such uses there may be incorporated andindissolubly combined with the condensation products of phenols andformaldehyde, or with varnishes prepared therefrom, any soluble orinsoluble inorganic or organic poison or toxic body capable ofpreventing or checking the growth or adhesion of barnacles or seaweeds,theattacks of worms or insects, etc. For this purpose the salts orcompounds of copper or mercury compounded with those condensationproducts of phenols and formaldehyde which are capable of transformationunder the influence of heat into an insoluble and infusible polymerizedproduct will be found e-flicient. The liquid or molten condensationproducts of phenols and formaldehyde are substantially non-conductive,and while they are solvents for certain metallic salts the solutions soprepared are not well adapted for purposes of precipitation. For thispurpose it is necessary to add a solvent as above described whichaffords electrolytically conductive solutions of the salts. Forapplications or uses not involving precipitation, the solvent may beomitted.

The metallic film produced as above described is precipitated understrongly reducing conditions, not only by reason of the presence of theorganic solvent, but because of the presence of such strong reducingagents as formaldehyde and the reaction firoducts of formaldehyde .andphenols.

educing conditions accelerate the separation of the metal and yield anunoxidized, adherent and relatively permanent metallic film, and aretherefore highly advantageous. In case natural or synthetic gums orresins are employed in place of the several condensation products ofphenols and formaldehyde above referred to, strong reducing agents, asfor example formic or other aldehydes, may be added to secure theabovementioned advantages.

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 530,6l4,filedNovember a0, 1909.

I do not claim in this application a-composition of matter containing aphenolic condensation product, a suitable solvent, and

we: bi! nuum,

a salt of a metal which is capable of precipitation upon a conductivesurface in the form of a coating therefor; nor do I claim the method ofcoating electrically conductive surfaces involving the use of suchcomposition; nor do I claim the article resulting from the practice ofsuch method; such subject-matter being claimed in application 530,644,above mentioned.

.I claim t 1. As a coating composition, a phenolic condensation productcombined with a toxic body, and constituting a vehicle therefor.

2. As a coating composition, a phenolic condensation product combinedwith a metallic compound having toxic properties, and constituting avehicle therefor.

3. As a coating composition, a phenolic condensation product combinedwith a salt of copper, and constituting a vehicle there- I for.

4. As a coating composition, a phenolic condensatlon producttransformable by heat into an infusible and insoluble body, com

bined with a toxic substance.

5. As a coating composition, a phenolic condensation .producttransformablc by heat into an 1nfusible and insoluble body, combinedwith a metallic toxic properties.

6. As a coating composition, a phenolic condensation producttransformable by heat into an infusible and insoluble body, combinedwith a salt of copper.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a base for anti-fouling varnishesand paints, comprising a phenolic condensation product in dissolublycombined with a toxic body.

8. As a new article of manufacture, a base for anti-fouling varnishesand paints, comprising a phenolic condensation product indissolublycombined with a poisonous metallic substance.

9. As a new article of manufacture, a base for anti-fouling varnishesandpaints comcompound having -prising the product of condensation of aphenol and formaldehyde, with which is combined chemically a poisonousmetallic substance.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CLINTON P. TOWNSEND. Witnesses:

U. W. FOWLER, N. P. LEONARD.

